If You Want To Be Happier, Should You Be A Billionaire Or Be Amish?

As an illustration of the striking disconnect between money and happiness, the average life satisfaction of Forbes magazine's 400 richest Americans was 5.8 on a 7-point scale (Diener, Horowitz, & Emmons, 1985). Yet the average life satisfaction of the Pennsylvania Amish is also 5.8 (Diener & Seligman, 2004), despite the fact that their average annual salary is several billion dollars lower.